The Naiad Voyages

Mark Austen

2016.11.20 - Wet and Wetter

Sunday, 20 November, 2016

I don't know what it is like weather-wise in your part of the world, but round here last night was just a tad wet. Not only that but it was very windy and the combination has resulted in my having to delay working on Naiad for the moment. When it just rains, there are one or two drips in the workshop but nothing major. But when the wind also blows hard from the South then the rain, instead of running down the workshop roof, blows up it instead, under the capping piece at the apex and then straight down into the workshop and right onto Naiad. The slope on the workshop roof is not that steep so the rain can flow uphill with only a moderate wind. Unfortunately.

Poor Naiad, she was soaked and I had to use a floor cloth to mop up the puddles of water that had collected in her bilges.

Needless to say, I will have to wait until the bits I want to work on next are dry, or drier before I can begin.

So, instead I went online and spent some money on Naiad instead.

If you look at the photo of the heater you will see a slight problem with the way in which it has been mounted.

There are in fact two slight problems with the heater mounted like this, both caused by the same thing. The galley will be refitted next to the heater and this will mean that the air inlet will be very close to the side of the new gallery. Too close. And the second problem is that one of the spring clips holding the ash tray on to the heater is on the outboard side and will be under the shelf that will be put back in the new galley. You can get your hand in to undo the clip but it is awkward.

The solution is fairly obvious. Turn the ash tray anticlockwise by 90 degrees. Now the air inlet will be facing into the boat and easily accessible and the two spring clips will be fore and aft and also easily accessed.

Now to do this I will need to add two new catch plates for the spring clips so I not only have to buy the catch plates but also stainless steel pop rivets and a new 4.1mm HSS drill bit as well. Fortunately all these are easily bought and I already have a pop rivet gun in my tool box.

Somewhere.

I will also need to modify the ash tray very slightly. It was a tight fit when I received it but the heat has caused the metal to relax. Stresses build up in the metal during the construction, mainly when it was welded, and the heat of the fire has allowed these stresses to be relieved. It's a normal thing and the subject is covered in the installation instructions. But, in this case the ash tray fit has become very tight indeed and I shall have to take a file to the inner lip and remove the bits that are causing it to bind against the body of the heater. An easy job. In fact the hardest part is going to be preventing the two jobs from causing lots of unsightly scratches on the shiny stainless steel outer.